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Royals Trade Wade Davis To Cubs

The Chicago Cubs might not have Aroldis Chapman for another World Series run in 2017, but they've got themselves a pretty good replacement. Chicago has traded for Wade Davis, and are shipping outfielder Jorge Soler to Kansas City.

Over the past three seasons, Wade Davis has a remarkable 1.18 ERA in 185 relief appearances. 2016 was a "down" year for Davis, pitching in only 45 games as he dealt with forearm issues. He finished the season with a 1.87 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. In 2015 Davis was the most dominant relief pitcher the game has seen in a long time. In 69 appearances out of the bullpen, Davis had an ERA of 0.94 and a 0.79 WHIP, allowing just 33 hits in 67.1 innings.

Hector Rondon who served as the Cubs closer the past three seasons, before Chapman arrived, will continue to be the setup man in 2017.

Kansas City will likely hand over the closer duties to Kelvin Herrera. Herrera stepped into that role last year when Davis was on the DL and saved 12 games, striking out 86 batters in 72 innings.

Being traded to the Royals is a great thing for Jorge Soler and his career. Soler was buried on the depth chart in Chicago behind guys like Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler, and Ben Zobrist. He will now have a chance to be an everyday player. The 24 year old has great size at 6'4 and has a chance to show off his power in KC. Over his first two+ seasons, Soler has hit 27 home runs and 35 doubles in 682 at-bats.